2008 NMRA Ford Nationals - Winds Of Change - NMRA Joliet, Illinois '08

Super Street Outlaw
This year's Joliet race was a lot different than the '07 event for John Urist. Last year, John had all kind of problems. It was never a dull moment in the Hellion Power Systems pits. This year, the Fireball had a chance to chill out on occasion. Unlike last year, he didn't need a teammate to take one for the home team or extra time because of a transmission issue. John's new coupe ran flawlessly, and John even did his best work at the Tree with a perfect light in the semis. John qualified in the fourth spot with a 7.49 at 186 mph. Yes, you read that right; the fourth spot with a 7.49-crazy stuff, we know. However, making a case to be the NMRA's new Mr. 0.400, Johnny-boy systematically cut his way through eliminations with consistency both at the Tree and downtrack with 7.40-7.50s to win the event. John was one of very few NMRA racers able to also win the NMRA/NMCA Shootout over Corvette racer Anthony Nesbitt.

Conrad Scarry and Scarry Crew's 10.5W Mustang has been hard to beat in 2008, and it looked to be more of the same at Joliet. The only other 10.5W racer in the 6s during qualifying, Conrad was the only racer in the 6s during eliminations, and that consistency is what has won races for the Scarry Crew. However, with Conrad under the weather for the finals against Ron Lummus, he was in no shape to pilot the car to a full pass, so he eased the car down the track to an 11.32 at 114 mph. Conrad's lazy pass was probably a blessing in disguise: it could've been ugly had Conrad been right next to Ron and the Garrett car's problems.

EFI Renegade
During qualifying, we kept waiting for Brian Tuten to bust the juice, but he was testing and making sure the engine was all good. Brian and the BMF Racing crew finally opened the bottle in eliminations, subsequently running an 8.56 at 156 mph to get past George Seeger in Round 1. In Round 2, Brian Mitchell redlit against Brian, sending him to the next round against Jason Geroulo. Though Jason has been running good recently, Brian was able to get past Jason, but it wasn't easy. Jason treed Brian out of his racing suit, and barely made it to the final round against Bob Cook. There, both racers had equally bad reaction times, but Brian's nitrous combination didn't eat itself this time, earning the win with an 8.62 against Bob's faltering 8.86.

Joey Bridge is the other modular Mustang in Drag Radial carrying a Ford Racing 5.4 Aluminator block, weighing in at 330ci. The Bridge crew was trying different torque converters to maximize the modular engine. So far the combo is good for 8.20s-8.30s, which took the team to the final against Tony Akins at Joliet. Even though Joey got a slight holeshot, he was unable to keep the nose of his New Edge GT out front long enough to take the win. If dragstrips were 1,310 feet long, Joey would've won.

Drag Radial
With Chris Tuten moving up to Super Street Outlaw and John Kolivas roasting an engine at Joliet, the door was open for someone else to step to the forefront of the Drag Radial class. Tony Akins seized the day with his turbocharged '03 Cobra by running 8.20s every pass during eliminations. His reaction times were equally stellar; Joey Bridge was the only competitor to have a quicker reaction time, and that was in the final. Tony was able to make up the ever-so-slight deficit by the finish line, however. In the Super Bowl Shootout, Tony was one of the lone bright spots for the NMRA when he beat the NMCA's Extreme Street winner Tony Orts and his '68 Firebird.

Bob Cook has been flying ever since he took the Sutton High Performance seat. "The Mongoose" is always in the thick of it in EFI Renegade, and Joliet was no different. Bob qualified in the top spot with an 8.62, and he even beat his own car with Scott Lovell at the wheel in the semifinal round. However, Bob couldn't get past the nitrous car of Brian Tuten in the final.

Hot Street
Charlie Booze usually runs both NMRA Hot Street and NMCA's Pro Stock. Both have similar rules for the Fords; as such, many of the NMCA Pro Stock competitors are also NMRA racers. Mike Demayo raced both classes at Joliet. It would be Charlie Booze pulling off the Hot Street win over Robbie Blankenship in the final. Charlie would also go on to defeat fellow Mustang racer Andy Schmidt in the Super Bowl Shootout.

Real Street
Bruce Hemminger has always been one to throw a wrench into the Real Street class. He's been a staunch nitrous user from way back and its loudest proponent. Bruce has been tearing it up the last couple races, much to the chagrin of the other Real Street racers. Bruce was testing his car for most of the weekend, running mostly half-track and 1,000-foot passes. He was able to make a 9.63/140-mph pass to qualify number 1. He ran a shut-off 9.65/133-mph pass for his Round 1 bye to make sure the car was working properly, and then a 9.68 to dispatch Michael Bell in Round 2. After that, things started getting a little screwy. Bruce didn't make another full pass the rest of eliminations, but he won anyway. Tim Matherly redlit against Bruce in the semis, as did Jim Breese in the final, handing Bruce the win.

We know a lot of racers test, but Robbie Blankenship is one of those NMRA racers always trying to get the most out of his Hot Street Mustang. Living in Hudson, Florida, he has plenty of opportunities to test torque converters, camshafts, carburetors, and chassis setups. That doesn't even count the dyno time he uses to fine tune his 400ci combo. At Joliet, Robbie ran strong in qualifying with an 8.83 at 153 mph to qualify second behind Charlie Booze. Robbie ran 8.87s in Rounds 1 and 2, but an 8.95 wasn't enough to overcome Charlie's 8.83 in the final.